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Airbus Extends A320 Assembly Venture in China to 2025

Ten-year extension worth an additional $10 billion.

In a March press release Airbus announced an extension of the partnership to assemble A320s in Tianjin, China. The release also announced that China Aviation Supplies Holding Company (CAS) and Airbus signed a General Terms Agreement (GTA) for the purchase of a total of 70 Airbus aircraft. The order included both A320s and A330s. The ten years cover the period from 2016 to 2025, expanding deliveries to the whole Asian region and includes final assembly of the A320neo Family from 2017 onwards.

Airbus’ Chinese partners are Tianjin Free Trade Zone and Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC). Chinese aviation is growing much faster than the world average, the release noted.Reuters reports diplomats said the deal included China’s agreement to unblock purchases of more than 27 Airbus A330 aircraft, which had been suspended during a recent trade dispute. The dispute was due to China's opposition to a European Union scheme forcing airlines to join an emissions plant it feared could harm its carriers. In addition, Chinese officials in Paris signed deals to co-produce 1000 EC-175 helicopters with a unit of Airbus and to cooperate on turbo-prop engines with France-based Safran.

BBC News also reported on the deal, noting that aerospace exports accounts for 29% of French exports to China. The deal is reportedly worth over $10 billion.